Florida Man’s Arm ‘Tripled In Size’ After Contracting Flesh-Eating Bacteria

Just last week in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, Tyler King was having a pretty normal day at work, busy running his own water sports business. Doing daily tasks, and finishing up his rounds, it couldn’t have been mundane for him. Things took a turn for the weird however, when he noticed that his left bicep is starting to swell. Alarmed, the man took Benadryl to try and ease what he thought as a simple inflammation.



But that “simple inflammation” nearly tripled in size after just a matter of few hours, and King found himself rushing to the emergency room.

"When I was a little bit younger, I probably would have tried to tough it out. Well, that would have been the worst thing that I could do . If I had gone to sleep … and had woke up with it at the rate it was spreading, I might not have an arm right now,” King said in an interview.

Apparently, he had contracted Vibrio, which is a bacteria usually found in brackish water. Besides infection via direct contact with an open wound, it can also be contracted by eating raw or undercooked shellfish, such as clams and oysters. While there are available treatments for it, the infection can be very deadly if left untreated for an extended amount of time.

However, according to King, he didn’t touch any water on the day he was infected, and right now, he still has no idea how it happened.

Water infections

Recently, similar cases have started popping up on East Coast beaches. For example, last week a woman from Maryland had her son develop some wounds after swimming in open water. Then there’s the 77-year old woman who died after developing necrotizing fasciitis. She apparently contracted it after falling into the water and cutting her leg.

"Waters are getting warmer and the bacteria love warmer water, so we're all at higher risk ,” explained CBS news medical contributor Dr. David Agus.

He urges people to always practice proper hygiene for safety, as well as to immediately use hand sanitizer if they ever get a cut in the water.

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